Britain’s smart meter rollout slowed again in the fourth quarter of last year in a further sign of the difficulties facing the struggling £11 billion programme. Fewer than 15 million meters had been fitted by the end of 2018, meaning installation rates would need roughly to quadruple to meet the target of installing 50 million meters in all UK homes by the end of next year. Large energy suppliers installed just over 1.1 million domestic smart gas and electricity meters in the three months to December, a 2 per cent drop on the previous three months, according to official statistics published yesterday. Installation rates have slowed in three of the past four quarters, down from a peak of more than 1.3 million meters fitted in the fourth quarter of 2017 – in contrast to suppliers’ original plans to double their installation rates in 2018. Smart meters take automatic gas and electricity usage readings and transmit them to suppliers as well as enabling households to see their usage in real time via display monitors.
Times 29th March 2019 read more »
